Touchscreen devices have recently become widely used devices that are able to detect and accept user interaction through touch. Usually, a user touches the touchscreen of the device with his/her hand or finger in order to interact with the device. Touchscreen devices also exist that accept passive device interaction as input, such as a stylus. Thus, touchscreen devices usually allow interaction through direct touch of a screen. In this way, touchscreen devices allow a user to interact directly with the content of the touchscreen, without the use of an agent (or input) device such as a keyboard or a mouse. Touchscreen devices may perform as stand alone devices, or may require connection with a computer or network to function. Examples of touchscreen devices include tablet personal computers, mobile phones, video game devices, global positioning system (GPS) navigation devices, personal data assistants (PDAs), and the like.
Biometric technologies have also become prevalent in recent years. Biometric technologies include those in which a human or part of a human is uniquely identified through a physical attribute. Fingerprint recognition is an example of a biometric technology that has been used for some time. For example, fingerprinting is widely used by governments worldwide to identify citizens of their respective countries. Fingerprint recognition requires the identification of unique physical characteristics (e.g. ridges) of the fingerprint through the use of various technologies. The identification techniques can range from the utilization of ink to produce an image of the fingerprint on paper to electronic scanning and processing using a computer. Once obtained, the fingerprint is often analyzed using pattern matching algorithms for identification.